The Volkswagen Jetta is one of the brand鈥檚 most successful models, having sold over 600,000 units in Canada alone since its inception. Fast forward to today, and the seventh-generation Jetta is still recognizable but larger in every dimension. It is longer, taller, and wider than it has ever been, rewarding interior space and cabin comfort. The new 2019 Jetta is actually about the same size as the 1997-generation Volkswagen Passat. I wouldn鈥檛 go so far as to say the Jetta has gotten better looking over the years. The hexagonal front grill is awkwardly shaped like the new Audi A7, making the Jetta appear wider than it really is, and the monumental wheel gaps make it look like it鈥檚 constantly standing on tippy toes. Is it terrible to say that I actually prefer the outgoing model鈥檚 mature and straight-shot design? After speaking to a few colleagues, it appears I鈥檓 not the only one to share this sentiment either. The biggest improvement comes with the rear end, with taillights reminiscent of its more expensive brethren, the Audi A4.
From this angle, the Jetta looks premium, though the fake exhaust outlets don鈥檛 do it any favours. 1,400 increase. No matter the trim, just do us all a favour and front-end park. The Jetta鈥檚 interior has clearly been spruced up but there鈥檚 nothing we haven鈥檛 seen before in the Golf hatchback. The Digital Cockpit display for the instrument cluster is neat and will surely appease technophiles in their hunt for a five-seater sedan. The infotainment system is miles ahead of the offerings from both Honda and Toyota, even Ford. The ease of use, large prompts, responsive screen, and sensors that detect your hand approaching the screen and automatically display shortcut buttons, makes this one of the friendliest systems on the market today. The rest of the cabin is dark, albeit bland in typical Volkswagen fashion, and is frankly a love-it-or-hate-it design. Some readers I鈥檝e talked to love the simplistic layout. Others feel it鈥檚 too vanilla. We鈥檙e in the latter camp. 20,995, and that already comes standard with heated front seats, Apple CarPlay, and Bluetooth connectivity.
The biggest upgrade for the new Jetta is that it finally sits on Volkswagen鈥檚 MQB platform that has underpinned the Golf for quite some time now. We praised the Golf for this stiff modular chassis but the Jetta just can鈥檛 quite pull off the same kind of driving experience. The steering is springy and slightly overboosted, the pedals feel like you鈥檙e pressing down on a Furby, and the body wallows about when taking corners at higher speeds. There鈥檚 nothing to write home about with the Jetta鈥檚 carried over 1.4-litre turbocharged inline-four engine but it does perform smoothly and dishes out 147 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque via a new 8-speed automatic transmission. The Honda Civic has more horsepower (174 hp) but slightly less torque (162 lb-ft). On the road, they both take off from idle with a similar amount of shove and it doesn鈥檛 translate to a large enough delta for us to prefer one over the other.
Still, the only thing I would dock the Civic for is its bland CVT. The Jetta鈥檚 powerplant is quieter than the Civic鈥檚 and the 8-speed transmission keeps up well with unnoticeable gear shifts and prompt responses to throttle input. Of note, the Jetta also offers a six-speed manual transmission on every trim, and not just the base model. 31,695) on tap for those looking for that missing spice factor. What the Jetta does have going for it, and I know this sounds ironic after Dieselgate, is exceptional fuel economy. On a full tank, we received an estimated range of roughly 600 km, and we believe it. Even after driving 100 kms on city roads averaging 8.7 L/100km, the fuel tank meter only dipped one light. The Jetta may not look pretty but there鈥檚 no denying its effectiveness as a daily cruiser, where most people would only need to fill up once every few weeks depending on their commute distance. There鈥檚 nothing too impressive about the Jetta but there鈥檚 nothing awfully terrible about it either.
The effects are still the same, but one is more civilized now. Official fuel consumption numbers come in at 8.4 L/100 kms in the city for the 2.0 litre, and 6.4 highway, if you choose the automatic. If you opt for front wheel drive and the 2.5, again with the automatic, you鈥檒l get somewhere in the ballpark of 8.8 city and 6.6 highway. If you add all-wheel drive to that, like my tester, official numbers come in at 9.2 city and 7.0 highway. So you can see that all-wheel drive means more fuel, but not drastically more. And besides, during my weeks worth of mixed city/highway driving, I was able to return 7.6 L/100 kms combined. And the new 3 itself is quite good too. In fact, it鈥檚 the best it鈥檚 ever been. Well done, yet again Mazda. As a sidebar, we are all young at heart to some degree so if Mazda ever turns this new 3 into a speed3, I鈥檒l be the first one at the dealership to try it out.
